Minutes Item No 4.1 The City of Edinburgh Council Edinburgh, Thursday 19 November 2015 Present:- LORD PROVOST The Right Honourable Donald Wilson COUNCILLORS Elaine Aitken Dominic R C Heslop Robert C Aldridge Lesley Hinds Norma Austin Hart Sandy Howat Nigel Bagshaw Allan G Jackson Jeremy R Balfour Karen Keil Gavin Barrie David Key Angela Blacklock Richard Lewis Chas Booth Alex Lunn Mike Bridgman Melanie Main Steve Burgess Mark McInnes Andrew Burns Eric Milligan Ronald Cairns Joanna Mowat Steve Cardownie Gordon J Munro Maureen M Child Jim Orr Bill Cook Lindsay Paterson Nick Cook Ian Perry Gavin Corbett Alasdair Rankin Cammy Day Vicki Redpath Denis C Dixon Lewis Ritchie Marion Donaldson Keith Robson Karen Doran Cameron Rose Paul G Edie Frank Ross Catherine Fullerton Jason G Rust Nick Gardner Alastair Shields Paul Godzik Stefan Tymkewycz Joan Griffiths Iain Whyte Bill Henderson Norman Work Ricky Henderson 1. Minutes Decision To approve the minute of the Council of 22 October 2015 as a correct record. 2. Questions The questions put by members to this meeting, written answers and supplementary questions and answers are contained in Appendix 1 to this minute. 3 Leader’s Report The Leader presented his report to the Council. The Leader commented on: Syrian Refugees Cities Convention Greg Ward – Appreciation Welcome Rob McCulloch-Graham, Chief Officer, Edinburgh Health and Social Care Partnership The following questions/comments were made: Councillor Rose - Greg Ward - Appreciation - Celebration of 100th Birthday of former Lord Provost Ken Borthwick Lord Provost - Celebration of 100th Birthday former Lord Provost Ken Borthwick - Greg Ward - Appreciation Councillor Jackson - Celebration of 100th Birthday of former Lord Provost Ken Borthwick Councillor Rose - Report in Evening News –Castlebrae, Cameron House Community Centre – proposed action Councillor Burgess - Greg Ward - Appreciation Welcome Syrian refugees and condemnation of racial abuse following Paris attacks Councillor Edie - Greg Ward - Appreciation - Syrian Refugees - welcome - Capital Coalition Pledge No 26 – no compulsory redundancies The City of Edinburgh Council – 19 November 2015 Page 2 of 36 Councillor Howat - Greg Ward – appreciation - Welcome Rob McCulloch-Graham, Chief Officer, Edinburgh Health and Social Care Partnership - Capital Coalition Pledge 26 - Seven Cities Convention Councillor Tymkewycz - Welcome to Syrian Refugees - 5/6 December 2015 Ukranian Heritage Weekend – contribution of all minority groups within the Capital Councillor Godzik - Grow in Confidence Project – award – Congratulations to Children and Families Staff Councillor Day - Regeneration in Pennywell Awards - Commendation to apprentice of the year Stacy Bridges Councillor Balfour - Cameron House – Children and Families Team Councillor Shields - Withdrawal of Police Scotland written reports to Community Councils Councillor Work - Carers Rights Day – Stall at Waverley Court 20 November 2015 Councillor Rust - Nomination of Councillor Burns for Local Politician of the Year Award 4. Appointment of Monitoring Officer Details were provided on the appointment of the Council’s Monitoring Officer. Decision To approve the appointment of Carol Campbell, Head of Legal and Risk, as Monitoring Officer to take effect immediately following this meeting. (Reference – report by the Chief Executive, submitted) 5 Executive Management Structure The Council had approved an Executive Structure as part of the Council’s Transformation Programme. The City of Edinburgh Council – 19 November 2015 Page 3 of 36 Details were provided on a number of vacant posts in Tiers 1 and 2 of the organisation and a proposal for the Chief Executive to review the structure at the top level of the organisation. It was the intention to provide proposals to realign responsibilities to forge a stronger level of focus around matters of strategic importance to the next meeting of the Council. Motion To note the report by the Chief Executive. - moved by Councillor Burns, seconded by Councillor Howat Amendment 1) To note the report by the Chief Executive. 2) To agree that that the Chief Executive’s review of tier 1 and tier 2 posts should consider the option of deleting the tier 1 post, Executive Director of City Strategy and Economy and introducing a new tier 2 post, Head of Sustainable Economy. - moved by Councillor Corbett, seconded by Councillor Burgess Voting The voting was as follows: For the motion - 50 votes For the amendment - 6 votes Decision To approve the motion by Councillor Burns. (References – Act of Council No 3 of 25 June 2015; report by the Chief Executive, submitted.) 6. Capital Coalition Pledges Performance Monitoring May- October 2015 The Council had agreed the Capital Coalition pledges, noting arrangements for delivery and reporting on performance of these pledges every six months. An update was provided on the performance against the Capital Coalition’s Pledges for May to October 2015. The City of Edinburgh Council – 19 November 2015 Page 4 of 36 Motion 1) To welcome the Performance Monitoring Report on the Capital Coalition Pledges for May to October 2015. 2) To note that reporting of the pledges complemented wider corporate performance reporting to Committees. 3) To agree performance against the Capital Coalition’s Pledges for May to October 2015. 4) To acknowledge the significant challenges proposed by the transformation programme which supported the delivery of the Capital Coalition Pledges. 5) To note the following regarding Capital Coaliton Pledges; • Against pledge 1, to note the additional priority needed to ensure that educational attainment and positive destinations of looked after young people are strengthened; • Against pledge 8, the concern that it will not be possible to deliver the pledge that the Local Development Plan and the Strategic Housing Investment Plan deliver on the “brownfield sites first” commitment; • Against pledge 9, the need to ensure that homes being built under affordable housing programmes are benefiting people in the most acute housing need, that the homes being built are available at below market cost for the long term and that more Council, public and private sector land is released for affordable house building; • Against pledge 10, to recognise the success of the Council’s Empty Homes Officer in bringing back into use properties that have blighted communities and in increasing revenue through payment of Council tax for second homes; • Against pledge 12, the need to ensure that progress in developing alcohol treatment programmes is matched by best practice and sound evidence in licensing policy; • Against pledge 13, to take an active role in ensuring that the city’s private tenants are well-informed and able to benefit from new rights coming from national legislation; • Against pledge 15, to continue to recognise that inward investment should be targeted at those sectors which best enhance Edinburgh’s vision of a sustainable, low-carbon, jobs-rich economy, rather than displacing home- The City of Edinburgh Council – 19 November 2015 Page 5 of 36 grown business and that the incoming lead officer for economic development should be recruited with these aims in mind; • Against pledge 16, the importance of the social enterprise sector to the city, the need to further support Edinburgh Social Enterprise Network at the earliest opportunity and to ensure that asset disposal processes reflect the aspirations of the social enterprise sector; • Against pledge 17, to recognise the inclusion within the Edinburgh regional city deal bid a criterion on sustainable, low carbon economy and to progress this aim at an earliest opportunity once the deal is confirmed by Government ; • Against pledge 20, to note recently acquired powers to reduce business rates in target areas but to make representation to government that this is a very limited response without a parallel power to raise rates; and, more generally, for local government to determine the appropriate level of local taxation; • Against pledges 21 & 24, this Council’s clear majority on the case for a transient visitor levy at a time of increased strain on core council budgets and the ongoing need to press Scottish Minsters more firmly on enabling local authorities to take decisions in the best interests of the localities they are elected to serve; • Against pledge 25, the importance of ensuring that Living Wage annual uprates are passed on to employees at the point at which uprated rates are published; • Against pledge 30, to press the Scottish Government for reform of local taxation so that local taxation is fairer and more comprehensive so that the council is better able to invest in the services the city needs; • Against pledge 33, the value of participatory budgeting in increasing the public engagement with Neighbourhood Partnerships; the value of the approach being used in all Partnership areas; and the need to roll out PB principles within larger budget decisions; • Against pledge 40, to note the need for landmark sites in the city centre to have development which complements the historic environment; • Against pledge 41, to note overall significant progress in reducing the backlog of property conservation cases; to recognise that some clients of the former service remain deeply unhappy about the work carried out; and to ensure that the new shared repairs puts high quality customer care and communication at the heart of how it works; The City of Edinburgh Council – 19 November 2015 Page 6 of 36 • Against pledge 42 & 43, to ensure that